MAKHACHKALA, Russia - A bomb exploded Friday in a pile of garbage in the capital of the southern Russian region of Dagestan, killing a serviceman and wounding five others who had been searching for explosives, police said.

An engineering unit had been sent to the site, on a street leading to the base where it is stationed, said Ilyamin Magomedov, head of the Kirov district police department in the capital, Makhachkala. After they got out of the truck and started their search, the bomb went off, apparently triggered by remote control, he said.

The ITAR-Tass news agency, citing preliminary information from the Dagestani Interior Ministry, said two servicemen had been killed and three others wounded. Later, it said the Interior Ministry had corrected its toll to six servicemen and one civilian wounded, but none killed.

The RIA-Novosti and Interfax news agencies quoted medical officials as saying that one soldier had been killed and six wounded.

RIA-Novosti said the blast occurred near a trolley bus terminus in the capital, Makhachkala.

A group of people was spotted filming the explosion, but they jumped in a car and fled the city, Magomedov said